China has become the world’s third largest tourist destination, receiving 135 million inbound travellers last year.
Mr Shao Qiwei, head of the China National Tourism Administration, said that China has also seen a rapid growth in outbound travel and has become highly significant in sustaining the growth of global tourism.
A total of 70.25 million Chinese visited other countries or regions in 2011, making it the biggest source of outbound tourists in Asia, state-run Xinhua quoted him as saying.